Our view: Stories of inspiration

We hear Inspirational stories of heroism and selflessness nearly every day.

But two such stories in last weekend’s Northwest Herald made us feel particularly good about McHenry County and the great people who live and work here.

First was the story of 17-year-old Brad Jones. The Crystal Lake Central senior completed 25 random acts of kindness during the month of December, one each day up until Christmas.

As reporter Chelsea McDougall explained, “random” was key to Jones in carrying out his good deeds. He went into most days not knowing exactly what act of kindness he’d perform.

Among his deeds was buying a wedding gift from a stranger’s registry, ringing a bell and collecting donations for The Salvation Army, handing out flowers to hospital patients, and buying groceries for strangers.

Jones is something special, and we thank him for his deeds and for sharing his story.

Another inspiring story last weekend was the overwhelming response of donations to help the families whose homes were destroyed by the fire at Windy City Wings in McHenry. High winds from the first winter storm of the season led to downed power lines, which set the bar on fire. Five families who lived in apartments above the bar were displaced and lost everything.

But do-gooders from throughout the area drove last Saturday to the Chauncey H. Duker School gym in McHenry and donated everything from clothing to cash. The response, organizers said, was overwhelming.

We, too, are overwhelmed by the generosity of so many of our neighbors.

If nothing else, these two stories reinforced with us something we already knew: McHenry County is a great place to live in large part because of the great, caring people who live here.